Idea demands priority in licences, initial spectrum

The spectrum war is not showing any signs of abating, with GSM operator Idea Cellular shooting off another letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reiterating its seniority in the queue for new Universal Access Service Licences (UASLs) and initial spectrum.

The move comes in the wake of the recent Delhi High Court judgment in Parsvnath versus the DoT, wherein the court ruled that the seniority of the petitioner (Parsvnath) should be taken into account for granting UASL.

The order also states that this is not applicable to companies who have applied prior to the petitioner.

In a letter dated February 18, the Aditya Birla group company said that it believes there is GSM spectrum available for initial services and that it should be allotted on a first-come-first-serve principle, based on the date of application.

"It is now nearing 20 months since we applied, and six weeks since we deposited Rs 684.59 crore as licence entry fee. You are aware that our applications were made not just prior to August 24, 2007, but they rank number one in seniority among all those holding letters of intent (LoIs) and in-principle approvals issued after June 26, 2006 (the date of application)," the letter stated.

The letter, written by Idea Cellular Managing Director Sanjeev Aga, is addressed to

Telecom Commission Secretary and Chairman Siddhartha Behura.

"We aver that the principle set out by the Delhi High Court is equally applicable to us and requires that the DoT shall not allocate initial GSM spectrum to applications made after June 26, 2006."

Idea Cellular holds LoIs to commence operations in nine circles in the country, while it has operations in 11 circles and ended the year 2007 with 21.05 million customers.

This is the fourth letter from the company, which had earlier also sought allocation of licences on a priority basis in circles it has applied for.